Caring. Helping. Mental Illness.

KADIMA

Your Brain
Activity Revealed

Scans may be able to show the
history of your past experiences.

W

A time of introspection
and repentance...
A time of reconciliation
and atonement...
A time for prayer
and tzedakah...
A time to think
about people who
seek acceptance and
A time to accept those
who are different.

On behalf of Kadima's
clients, staff and Board of
Directors, we thank the
community for its support
of adults with chronic and
persistent mental illness
and children with serious
emotional and behavioral
disorders.

G'mar chatima
May you be inscribed in
the Book of Life

Mental illness isolates and ostracizes,
produces loneliness and despair.
It takes away one's independence,
dignity, and sometimes a home,
a family, and a reason to live.

Kadima provides residential and
outpatient programs and services to
adults with chronic and persistent
mental illness and outpatient programs
and services to children, age 3-18
years, and their family members,
with serious emotional and
behavioral disorders.

If you or someone you
know needs Kadima's
services, please call

248.559.8235

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1861840

30

September 12 • 2013

hat if experts could dig into
they create "expectations" that come
the brain, like archaeologists,
into play before we perform any type of
and uncover the history of
mental task, enabling us to anticipate the
past experiences? This ability might reveal
result. The researchers hypothesized that
what makes each of us a unique individual information about earlier experiences
and could enable the objective diagnosis of would thus be incorporated into the links
a wide range of neuro-
between networks of
psychological diseases.
nerve cells in the cortex,
New research at the
and these would show
Weizmann Institute in
up in the brain's wave
Israel hints that such a
patterns.
Their experiment,
scenario is within the
realm of possibility: It
involving volunteers
shows that spontane-
who undertook a train-
ous waves of neuronal
ing exercise that would
activity in the brain bear
strongly activate a
the imprints of earlier
well-defined network of
events for at least 24
nerve cells in the frontal
hours after the experi-
lobes while undergo-
Professor Rafael Malach
ence has taken place.
ing scans of their brain
The new research
activity in the Institute's
stems from earlier
functional magnetic
findings in the lab of
resonance imaging
Professor Rafael
(fMRI) machine, was
(Rafi) Malach of the
featured in the Journal
Institute's Department
of Neuroscience. Their
of Neurobiology and
findings showed that the
others showing that the
activation of the specific
brain never rests, even
areas in the cortex did
when its owner is rest-
indeed remodel the
ing.
resting brain wave pat-
The day-after effect of brain
When a person is
terns. Surprisingly, the
activation: The brain image at
resting with closed
new patterns not only
eyes — that is, no visual the back presents resting state remained the next day,
stimulus is entering the patterns before the MRI scan;
they were significantly
the front brain image presents
brain — the normal
strengthened.
resting state patterns a day
bursts of nerve cell
This research suggests
later.
activity associated with
a number of future pos-
incoming information
sibilities for exploring
are replaced by ultra-slow patterns of neu-
the brain. For example, spontaneously
ronal activity. Such spontaneous or "rest-
emerging brain patterns could be used as
ing" waves travel in a highly organized and a "mapping tool" for unearthing cognitive
reproducible manner through the brain's
events from an individual's recent past.
outer layer — the cortex — and the pat-
Or, on a wider scale, each person's unique,
terns they create are complex, yet periodic
spontaneously emerging activity patterns
and symmetrical.
might eventually reveal a sort of personal
Like hieroglyphics, it seemed that these
profile — highlighting each individual's
patterns might have some meaning, and
abilities, shortcomings, biases, learning
research student Tal Harmelech, under
skills, etc.
the guidance of Malach and Dr. Son
"Today, we are discovering more and
more of the common principles of brain
Preminger, set out to uncover their signifi-
cance.
activity, but we have not been able to
Their idea was that the patterns of rest-
account for the differences between indi-
ing brain waves may constitute "archives"
viduals:' says Malach. "In the future, spon-
for earlier experiences. As we add new
taneous brain patterns could be the key to
experiences, the activation of our brain's
obtaining unbiased individual profiles."
networks leads to long-term changes in
Such profiles could be especially use-
the links between brain cells, a facility
ful in diagnosing or learning the brain
referred to as plasticity. As our experiences pathologies associated with a wide array of
become embedded in these connections,
cognitive disabilities.

Doll dates from 1930s

HMC Seeks Info
On Donated Doll
From Lodz ghetto

T

he Holocaust Memorial
Center Zekelman Family
Campus would like to
trace a doll that was donated to the
center by a former Detroiter, Seema
Boesky. Her father, Ben Silberstein,
purchased it at a survivor's estate
sale in 1950, somewhere in the east
Detroit area.
The story Silberstein was told at
the time was that a mother in one
of the concentration camps made
it for her daughter with scraps she
found.
The doll came with Lodz, Poland,
ghetto currency, but no actual
evidence that it originated from
Lodz. It became Seema's favorite
and, with her father's explanation,
made her understand the bless-
ings of being born free in America.
It became a tangible link to her
Jewish heritage, a constant remind-
er that other children were subject
to other circumstances.
She treasured her "friend" for many
years and believes it is now appro-
priate to share this with the public.
Coming from Detroit, she considers
the Holocaust Memorial Center to
be the perfect venue for its display.
In an effort to authenticate its
origin, the Holocaust Memorial
Center asked Detroit Institute of
Arts Textile Chief Howard Sutcliffe
and Special Projects Director
Barbara Heller to examine it. They
confirmed it was an artifact whose
materials and construction were
from the 1930s era. Further exami-
nation will include an X-ray and
hair analysis.
Scientific analysis notwithstand-
ing, identifying the original owner
and the history of the doll would
provide details worthy of retelling
this story for generations to come.
If anyone recognizes this charm-
ing elf, or has information regard-
ing its ownership, origin or history,
contact either Steve Goldman or
Feiga Weiss at (248) 553-2400.

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